According to a new analysis by the Council of State Governments, that total puts Wisconsin as the nation’s fourth most indebted state, per capita.

By owing $251.96 per person to the federal government just to cover monies borrowed for the Unemployment Reserve, Wisconsin only trails Michigan ($382.57), Indiana ($272) and North Carolina ($253.31) for per capita indebtedness.

If the amounts in Wisconsin’s Unemployment Reserve account in the U.S. Treasury are not sufficient to cover anticipated unemployment payments, the state can borrow funds from the federal government. Despite receiving $134 million in Stimulus funds, Wisconsin’s Unemployment Reserve Fund ended 2009 with a deficit of nearly one billion dollars. That figure continues to grow.

“We are coming out of the worst national economic times since the Great Depression,” said John Dipko, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Communications Director, told MacIver News when the figures were first reported in June. “Unemployment insurance has been a critical lifeline for many workers who are out of work through no fault of their own.”